The Great Indian

I’m sitting in the lobby of an unusually nice hotel in Padang in Sumatra, drinking the best coffee in the world. I am not talking about Kopi Luwak, the most expensive coffee which passes through the digestive tracts of civets, but rather the local brew in Sumatra. I am not a huge consumer of coffee, but in Indonesia, starting one cold dawn in Bali, I fell in love with it. I haven’t found there to be much difference between the local brew in Bali and here in Sumatra, except for the name. In Bali it was Balinese coffee, here its Sumatran coffee. Both are very smooth, served black and sweet. Its also the best ‘instant’ coffee I have ever had. Its just finely ground coffee beans, with hot water and sugar added, ready in an instant. But trust me, the taste is nothing like what the word ‘instant’ brings to mind.



Again its been too long since I last wrote. Its not for the lack of time, or the lack of activities and topics to talk about, but rather a writers and photographers block which has me. But since there is the daily downpour outside, I think I’ll just have to get down to this while enjoying the WIFI and coffee.



Since my last post I have been doing pretty much what I told you. That's time in, on and around water. I’ve been loving the amazing snorkeling and diving in the many places I’ve been, in both the Indian Ocean and the Bali Sea. I am completely in love with, and quite possibly addicted to the underwater world, and with that time spent in the water have come skills that I could only have wished for years ago. Never in my life have I felt so comfortable in that environment.

The ocean has given me happiness, but at the same time a great deal of sadness. Getting a glimpse of a world that most people never see shows the enormous amount of damage humans are inflicting on the environment. From dynamite and cyanide fishing to unsustainable over fishing of many species, and the unbelievable amount non-biodegradable garbage thrown into the sea, all this gives me great concern on the impact that we are having on the world. I have also seen the effects of the warming and acidification of the oceans. I can only hope that humans do start thinking more about the environment we live in. I know I haven’t been as careful as I should have, and am trying to cut down on my consumption of plastic. So much of the waste we create has a tendency to find its way into the ocean, bringing with it consequences that scientists don’t even fully understand yet.



When making my way to Sumatra I had to make a visa run to Singapore to renew my Indonesian visa. This also provided me with an opportunity to enjoy some things which I have been craving, like Pakistani/Indian food, and good, rich chocolate. I was fortunate to find Max Brenner, one of the chocolatiers in Singapore, and satisfy myself with his incredible chocolates. The taste and texture of his Dead Sea sea salt chocolate is something which has to be tried. The combination of quality chocolate with a hint of salt sounds strange, but ends up blending together to make an incredible experience for your taste buds, leaving you craving for more. Little India helped fulfill my other craving of good Pakistani food. That area has some very good, authentic Pakistani/Indian food in little hole-in-the-walls. This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy that kind of food, and even if this wasn’t some of the best food on the planet, you cant really go wrong when paying two euros for a meal.





In a few hours I am starting on another motorbike tour. In Bali I was lucky to be joined by my friend Mikko, and we had an incredible time driving around the island of Bali, with no clear timetable or destination. Now I am also fortunate to have another friend, Opa, whom with to go exploring some of the roads around Sumatra. Again, we have no fixed route or timetable, just the way it should be here. After having just spent a few days on a small island with only one inhabitant, sleeping in a tent on the beach, I feel ready to tackle the Sumatran roads on my hopefully trusty little moped. May she carry me smoothly around potholes and show me some of the amazing secrets that Sumatra has waiting for us.